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The 5 Best Credit Cards with Companion Tickets

If you frequently travel with your significant other, credit cards with a free or discounted companion ticket benefit can save you money on airfare. We examined credit cards from America's major airlines to find ones that offer considerable value along with the companion pass benefit. These cards are great for anyone who travels with a partner and wants to save on flights. The best credit cards with companion ticket benefits allow you to get free or discounted flights for a traveling partner. Here are our picks:

Top Credit Cards with Companion Tickets

While many credit cards offer this sort of perk, some are better than others. To save readers time, here are the top credit cards with companion tickets you should consider in your search. You can find a full list of companion ticket cards at the bottom of the page.

Earn 3 miles for every $1 spent directly on Alaska Airlines purchases.

Earn 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

No foreign transaction fees, plus chip-enabled for enhanced security when used at chip-enabled terminals.

No mileage cap.

Miles won't expire on your active account.

Low Annual fee of $75

How the benefit works: Each year that you renew the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card by paying the annual fee, you'll receive one discounted companion ticket coupon. When you purchase a paid coach ticket for yourself through Alaska Airline's website, you'll be eligible to get a round-trip fare for your traveling partner for $99 plus fees. You'll get one companion ticket benefit per year, and you can redeem it on Alaska Airlines flights of any price. Alaska Air currently flies to over 115 destinations across the US, Canada, Mexico and Costa Rica. The carrier also acquired Virgin Atlantic, which will expand its routes to Europe and even parts of Asia.

Aside from the companion fare, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card is an excellent standalone credit card. It offers you plenty of ways to earn miles as you use it to shop, which will translate to more free flights. Each 100 Alaska miles earned equals roughly $1.80 in airfare credits. That's a more generous conversion than most airline mile programs. You'll also get free checked bags for you and up to six companions on Alaskan flights—that's a savings of $25 per bag. Alaska currently has a sign-up bonus of 30,000 bonus points and a $0 plus taxes and fees companion fare if you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days after opening the card.

How the benefit works: The Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card doesn't directly offer a companion pass. However, the miles you earn through the card's bonus and everyday spending rewards all count toward the coveted Southwest Companion Pass. This is the only unlimited companion fare benefit on the market, and it gives you a free companion fare for a designated partner on every Southwest itinerary. You'll have to earn 110,000 Rapid Rewards points in a year to earn the pass.

Opening the Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card can make it slightly easier to hit 110,000 points in a year. The card has the potential for earning you up to 60,000 bonus points in the first year: 40,000 for spending $1,000 in the first three months and 20,000 more for spending $12,000 in the first 12 months. You can earn either or both. You're also awarded 1 point on every dollar you charge to the card, and 2 points per dollar on Southwest purchases. It pays to be strategic about when you earn the pass—because once you earn the benefit, you keep it for the rest of the year plus the entirety of the next calendar year. You can read more about the pass in our detailed writeup.

The Southwest Companion Pass is the most rewarding, but it's also the most difficult to earn. You'll either have to be an ultra frequent flyer on Southwest or charge tens of thousands to your card per year. If you don't spend this much or travel often with Southwest, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card is likely a better choice for a companion ticket card.

Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express

This card is not available through ValuePenguin.

This card is not available through ValuePenguin.

How the benefit works: The Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express gives you an annual companion certificate each year that you pay the $195 annual fee. When you book a paid round trip in coach, the certificate allows you to book the same itinerary for free for your traveling companion. There are restrictions on where and when you can use the companion benefit, as the airline limits eligible flights to the continental U.S. and also has periodic blackout dates for redeeming the companion ticket.

On its face, the companion ticket benefit on the Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express (free) provides more value than the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card benefit ($99 plus taxes and fees). In actuality, destination restrictions on the Delta benefit and the higher annual fee on the Delta card offsets the monetary difference. The Delta companion benefit can only be applied on trips within the 48 contiguous states, whereas the Alaska benefit can be redeemed on trips to Hawaii and Costa Rica. Delta also applies blackout dates, and Alaska does not.

How the benefit works: With the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express, you'll get a companion certificate each year that you renew your card, which you can use on a main cabin, business class or first-class fare. The destination and time restrictions on the Reserve companion benefit also apply to the Platinum: blackout dates apply and eligible destinations are only within the 48 contiguous states.

In general, the Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express is a decent card if you spend a lot on Delta flights and can afford the $450 annual fee. The card usually has signup bonuses that give you medallion qualifying miles, so it's a decent choice if you're trying to get or retain Medallion status on Delta. If you're a casual traveler looking for a solid companion fare card, the Alaska Airlines Visa Signature® Credit Card is a much better choice.

British Airways Visa Signature® Card

This card is not available through ValuePenguin.

This card is not available through ValuePenguin.

Annual Fee

$95

Purchase APR

17.99% - 24.99% Variable

Credit Needed

Good

Details

50,000 bonus Avios after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first 3 months from account opening.

Earn an additional 25,000 bonus Avios after you spend $10,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening for a total of 75,000 bonus Avios.

Earn a further 25,000 bonus Avios after you spend $20,000 total on purchases within your first year from account opening for a total of 100,000 bonus Avios.

Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you’ll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.

In addition to the bonus Avios, you will also get 3 Avios for every $1 spent on British Airways purchases and 1 Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases.

Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.

Chip Technology allows you to use your card for chip based purchases in Europe & beyond, while still giving you the ability to use your card as you do today at home.

How the benefit works: British Airways gives a Travel Together Ticket to customers who make $30,000 in annual purchases on their British Airways Visa Signature® Card. Each time that you book a rewards flight, the Travel Together Ticket allows you to book another fare on the same itinerary for $0 plus taxes and fees. The benefit is good for two years once you earn it.

This is the only companion pass on our list to only work with award tickets, which is quite limiting. Not only will you have to spend that $30,000 to earn the pass, you'll also need to have enough miles accumulated to earn a flight. Luckily, spending that amount of money should get you most of the way toward an award flight. The card is also running one of the most generous signup bonuses around. Cardholders can get up to 100,000 points (a $1,500 value) for their spending—the first 50,000 for spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, and another 50,000 if you spend a total of $20,000 within your first year.

Full List of Credit Cards that Offer Companion Fare

The cards above are the standout offers we've come across. However, there are more credit cards that can give you and your travel partner a free ticket. Here is the full list of credit cards with companion tickets we were able to find in our research. Note that taxes and fees, which range from $20 to $45, must be paid on all companion fares, even those marketed as "free."

Comments and Questions

* See the online credit card application for details about terms and conditions. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. However all credit card information is presented without warranty. When you click on the "Apply Now" button, you can review the credit card terms and conditions on the issuer's website.

Info about the following cards: American Express® Gold Card, Delta Reserve® Credit Card from American Express, Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card, Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, Hilton Honors Surpass® Credit Card, American Express® Blue Sky, American Express® Green Card, The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express, The Plenti® Credit Card from Amex, Blue from American Express®, Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Mercedes-Benz, Bluebird, Centurion® Card from American Express, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, and Starwood Preferred Guest® American Express Luxury Card has been collected independently by ValuePenguin. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

How We Calculate Rewards: ValuePenguin calculates the value of rewards by estimating the dollar value of any points, miles or bonuses earned using the card less any associated annual fees. These estimates here are ValuePenguin's alone, not those of the card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer.

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the offers that appear on this website are from companies which ValuePenguin receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where offers appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). The site does not review or include all companies or all available products. For more information please see our Advertiser Disclosure.